Hook and eye attachment for sewing machines



Aug. 31,, 1965 A. MICALE 3,203,330

HOOK AND EYE ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING'MACHINES Filed NOV. 14, 1965 28 35 F767 35 37 2a 26; m

k Q) L 28 55 F768 37 F/a9 I I INVENTOR Hex/4 M ANGELO M/CALE 54 Ha. gw j BY @m/M Fla/6 5 4 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,203,386) HOUK AND EYE ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Angelo Micaie, 995 Nassau St., North Brunswick, NJ. Filed Nov. 14, 1963, Ser. No. 323,844 Claims. (Cl. 112-114) This invention relates to a hook and eye attachment for sewing machines. The device embodying the invention holds a hook or an eye while the machine sews it onto a piece of material.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of a device which will securely hold a hook or an eye after the holding means proper has had certain of its dimensions changed due to wear, thereby prolonging the useful life of the device.

The drawings illustrate the invention, and in these:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of part of the hook and eye attachment as held in a clamp which is fragmentarily shown;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of FIG. 1, as seen by turning FIG. 1 through 180 degrees on an axis running vertically through FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the device of hook and eye attachment and of the clamp holding it;

FIG. 4 is a side view of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are respectively enlarged sections on lines 5-5 and 6-6 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a back elevation of a block which carries the functional elements of the device when the block has been inverted;

FIGS. 8, 9, 10 and 11 are respectively plan, side, front, and bottom plan, views of the block in the normal position thereof;

FIGS. 12 and 13 are respectively plan and front views of a plate used to cover the upper open end of a central recess in the block mentioned;

FIGS. 14, 15 and 16 are respectively plamfront and bottom plan views of a block which receives a hook or eye;

FIGS. 17 and 18 respectively show plan and end views of a screw forming part of the device; and

FIGS. 19 and 2.0 are respectively plan and end views of a hollow spring-adjusting screw adapted to receive the screw of FIGS. 17 and 18.

Referring to the drawings for a detailed description, the numeral indicates a clamp of known construction mounted on the sewing machine and known in the needle trades as a button clamp, and comprises a pair of springcontracted clamping arms 26. The hook and eye device comprises a holding block 28, which carries or holds the functional components of the device. The front face of this block recedes with rise (FIGS. 4, 8 and 9) to avoid being struck by the machine needle if the block is not fiat with respect to the work surface. The holding block has a horizontal recess 3% in each end, in which recesses the arms 26 of the clamp are placed. The arms are locked in the recesses by screws 32, which pass through threaded holes 29 (FIGS. 7, 8, 10 and 11) in the upper parts of the end portions of the block, and extend down into said recesses, and bear on the clamp arms. The heads of the screws 3.2 are shown as provided with horizontal lever arms 33, so that they may be more easily effectively tightened by thumb and finger.

Between the recessed end portions, the upper surface of the block 28 is cut away to form an oblong depressed area (FIGS. 8 and 10), and in the middle of this area a recess 37 is formed. This recess extends from the surface 35 downward to near the bottom of the block, and is open at the front to receive a removable hook and eye block 39, the front face of which is coplanar with the lifihiddh Patented Aug. 31, 1965 front face of block 255. The depressed area 35 is filled in by a plate 41 (FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 12 and 13), which plate is secured to the block 28 by screws 43. In the center of plate 41 there is a threaded hole 45 (FIGS. 12 and 13) to receive a hollow thumbscrew 403 which extends centrally into the recess 37 of the block and is adjustable vertically therein. This thumbscrew has a bore 48 longitudinally therethrough which is counterbored in its lower portion to receive the major part of a coiled spring 51 (FIG. 5). This spring is in compression between the upper end of the counterbore and the upper surface of the hook and eye block 39, thereby bearing down on the latter. A second thumbscrew 52 passes through the bore 48 (FIG. 5) and threadedly engages a threaded vertical aperture 54 (FIGS. 14, 15 and 16) in the hook and eye block 39, thereby also passing through the coiled spring. The hook and eye block is therefore resiliently pressed down, and so will rise when an upward pressure is exerted on it.

The lower part of the hook and eye block 39 has in its lower part a stepped slot or passageway extending from its front to its back and from its bottom surface upward (FIGS. 3, 5, 14, 15 and 16). The lower part 57 of this slot, which is just above the bottom of block 39, is wider than its upper part 58, and is sized to receive, and to hold iiatwise, the open loop part of the usual, or conventional, round wire eye half of a hook and eye combination, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 with the closed loops or eyes proper outside the slot, i.e., in front of the block. The width of the lower portion 57 of the recess or passageway is also slightly less than the greatest width of the open loop of the eye, so that said loop is slightly compressed sidewise when it is pressed into the recess. The height of the slot portion 57 is slightly less than the thickness of the eye component, so that when the latter is inserted in it, the resiliently pressed block 39 is raised slightly. The downward pressure of the coiled spring on the block 39 then holds the eye firmly, being pressed against the bottom part of block 28. The width of slot 57 is less than the overall width of the eye at the front portion of the latter, i.e., at the eyelets, so that the latter remain in front of block 39, but are pushed up against that front, in which position the sewing machine needle may enter them and sew them to a garment. When a hook component is to be sewed, as shown in FIGURE 5, it is inserted into both parts 57 and 58 of the stepped slot, with the hook proper in the slot portion 58. The latter part of the slot may be wider and higher than the hook proper. Thereby, the hook proper does not wear the block. As with the eye component, the hook component is held tightly in place by the coiled spring pressure on the block 39.

One reason for the construction shown is that the hook and eye block 39 becomes worn, due to the friction caused by the insertion and withdrawal of a large number of hooks and eyes. The lower part of the receiving slot therefore becomes enlarged and the hook or eye is not firmly held in proper position for the reception of the sewing needle. In previous structures, the worn parts had to be more or less often replaced. Wear on the present structure is on that part of the bottom of the holding block 28 which is under the slot portion 57, and occurs also on the horizontal surface of the shoulder at the junction of the slot parts 57 and 58; this wearing in effect increases the height of the slot portion 57, so that the hook or eye is too loose. When this occurs, the bottom of the hook and eye block is ground off a little. The screw 46 is then turned down to restore normal pressure of the coil spring 50 and the hooks and eyes are again firmly held.

What is claimed is:

1. A hook and eye attachment for a sewing machine, comprising a holding block having a central recess open at the front of the block, a hook and eye block in the lower portion of the central recess, the hook and eye block having in its lower portion a slot for the separate reception of a hook or an eye and adapted to hold one or the other during a sewing operation, a vertical screw passing through the upper part of said holding block into said central recess, said screw having a bore longitudinally therethrough, the bore being oounterbored in its lower portion, a compressed coil spring in the counterbore and pressing down on the top of the hook and eye block, and a thumbscrew through said bore and said coil spring and threaded'ly engaging the hook and eye block, and means on said holding block for attaching said holding block to a sewing machine.

2. The attachment specified in claim 1, in which the height of the slot in the hook and eye block is less than the height of a normal hook or eye so that the latter block is raised when a hook or an eye is inserted in the slot.

3. A hook and eye attachment device for a sewing machine, comprising a holding block having a central recess open at the front thereof, a hook and eye block in the lower portion of the central recess, said hook and eye block having in its lower portion a slot for the separate reception of a hook or an eye so as to hold one or the other during a sewing operation, vertical guide means on said holding block for said hook and eye block for limiting the movement of said hook and eye block for only vertical movement, biasing means on said holding tblock biasing said hook and eye lblock vertically downward against said holding block, bias control means for controlling the amount of vertical bias achieved by said bias means, and attachment means for attaching said holding block to a sewing machine.

4. The hook and eye attachment of claim 3 wherein said holding block includes recesses along the side edges thereof for receiving clamp arms of a sewing machine, said holding rblock further including set screws passing through a wall of said holding block into said clamp recesses for fixedly securing the said holding block to said clamping arms.

5. The hook and eye attachment of claim 3 wherein said holding block has a beveled front face, said beveled front face preventing a sewing machine needle from striking said block.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,788,756 4/57 Cushing 112114 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A HOOK AND EYE ATTACHMENT FOR A SEWING MACHINE, COMPRISING A HOLDING BLOCK HAVING A CENTRAL RECESS OPEN AT THE FRONT OF THE BLOCK, A HOOK AND EYE BLOCK IN THE LOWER PORTION OF THE CENTRAL RECESS, THE HOOK AND EYE BLOCK HAVING IN ITS LOWER PORTION A SLOT FOR THE SEPARATE RECEPTION OF A HOOK OR AN EYE AND ADAPTED TO HOLD ONE OR THE OTHER DURING A SEWING OPERATION, A VERTICAL SCREW PASSING THROUGH THE UPPER PART OF SAID HOLDING BLOCK INTO SAID CENTRAL RECESS, SAID SCREW HAVING A BORE LONGITUDINALLY THERETHROUGH, THE BORE BEING COUNTERBORED IN ITS LOWER PORTION,A COMPRESSED COIL SPRING IN THE COUNTERBORE AND PRESSING DOWN ON THE TOP OF THE HOOK AND EYE BLOCK, AND A THUMBSCREW THROUGH SAID BORE AND SAID COIL SPRING AND THREADEDLY ENGAGING THE HOOK AND EYE BLOCK, AND MEANS ON SAID HOLDING BACK FOR ATTACHING SAID HOLDING BLOCK TO A SEWING MACHINE. 